Generally the invention relates to holding down cargo in the cargo bed of any size, make, or model pick-up truck, or other vehicular surface that is capable of supporting cargo. It can be used with or without the use of a canopy or any other type of cover. Specifically, the invention focuses upon the use by people in the construction business or any other persons who use their pick-up trucks or vehicle for any other type of cargo, transport. Further, at least one embodiment of the invention relates to an easily installable and removable vertical compression force-based vehicular cargo retention apparatus that may be fully adjustable to accommodate cargo of different size and to fit vehicles with differently sized cargo beds or surfaces.
Possibly one of the biggest problems in transporting cargo may be that there may, from some perspectives, be nothing sufficiently strong, secure, and easy to use, especially for those in the construction field, to effectively hold down cargo in the bed of a pick-up truck without causing damage to the materials being held down (generally the cargo) or to the vehicle. As examples, problems can exist with cargo hold down/supports while driving down the highway or any drivable surface.
After one sees broken drywall and other building materials or Christmas trees, as but a few examples, on the road which have blown off the back of trucks, the importance of securely retaining and transporting cargo is apparent. A few specific examples of problems in vehicularly transporting cargo include damage to cargo resulting from movement of cargo relative to the cargo supporting surface, damage to supporting surfaces or other vehicle parts incurred due to motion of cargo relative to supporting or surrounding structural surfaces, impairment of vehicular maneuverability and speed due to a vehicle operator""s insecurity as to the integrity of the cargo securing (or retention) apparatus at higher speeds or at sharper curves, for example, and increased risk of damage and injury to persons and property proximate to an insufficiently or improperly retained cargo transport operation (including increased risk of incurring legal liability to injured parties or property owners). Cargo merely confined, as in some commercially available systems, may not be sufficiently retained without proper compressive force application to the cargo. Other problems relate to costs of presently commercially available cargo hold down apparatus that are prohibitively high for, for example, individual vehicle owners who desire to transport and safely retain smaller amounts of cargo. Still other problems with presently commercially available vehicular cargo retention products has to do with an installation that requires bolting or potentially deforming clamping, e.g., of the product to a vehicle part.
In at least one embodiment, the invention may disclose a structural framework system that may be used to retain through a vertical compression force items (more generally cargo) for transport. It may disclose a substantially elongated and rigid upper bar (a type of vertical compression force base element), two vertical compression force transfer elements that each contact the compression force base element and that each comprise a threaded rod and nut adjustment system that may also serve as a compression force enhancement element for use after positional adjustment, a cargo retention element that is connected with the two vertical compression force transfer elements, and two engagement elements that helps to fixedly establish the entire framework to a vehicle such as, for example, a pickup truck. In at least one embodiment of the invention, the vertical compression force is what results in secure cargo retention. In at least one embodiment, engagement elements each frictionally engages an underside of a truckbed sidewall upper lip underside through a compressive force.
This device offers advantages to the transporting of cargo in the bed of a pick-up truck, or on or in a supporting surface of any other type of vehicle. In a basic form, one broad goal of the concept or device involves taking any number, any size, any weight, or length of items (generally known as cargo) such as, but not limited to, drywall, PVC pipe, paneling, boards and equipment such as ladders scaffolding and household appliances, or even a family""s Christmas tree (as but a few examples), and protecting them from flying, falling, or tipping over or out of the bed of the truck, or sustaining any unwanted motion relative to the cargo supporting surface (such as a pickup truck bed, e.g.). Of course, the term vehicular cargo as may be used herein refers generally to cargo being supported and transported with a vehicle.
Another goal of the cargo hold-down apparatus (at times referred to as the device or invention) is to prevent damage to the top of the tailgate from items too long for the truck bed, as the device can be used with the tailgate down.
Aware of the possibility of bodily injury due to a vehicle accident, the liability that it could cause, the loss or damage of expensive materials, equipment, or other items loaded and not held down securely, this device presents a better way to transport and hold cargo in place in a truck bed without damaging the truck and without the loss or damage of the items being transported. The product (or device) could prevent motion of the cargo relative to the cargo supporting surface from occurring by vertically compressively supporting and holding down or bracing (or retaining) cargo in the back of a pick-up truck, thereby precluding or avoiding injury to persons and/or damage to property.
Another broad goal of the invention may be to provide a cargo retention unit that may be installed without bolting or clamping, each of which may result in permanent structural modification of the vehicle.
Naturally, further objects of the invention are disclosed throughout other areas of the specification and claims.